I personally like Kwak better but this little girl is technically excellent and has a very bright future ahead of her for 13 years old! I hope to see her on the JGP in the coming season, hopefully she will do very well!

Her Triple jumps seem fairly impressive for someone of her age. But that's about it. Everything else is pretty novice level and not significantly different to another comparable of her age. Times to times, we'll see a few very young girls with a gift for jumping. The hard part is how they manage the obstacle that will come with becoming a teenager and the expected growth. It may cause them to lose their ability to jump and have to re-learn everything from the scratch. It's way too premature to put this young girl on the radar but I understand the need to look for the next one given the uncertainty surrounding Yu-Na Kim's future. If this girl is 12, she won't be eligible for World Championship for at least another 3 years or so. That's a very long time in the skating world. Let's try to keep the expectations in check before this produces yet another burn-out due to unrealistic expectations.

Korea's next leading lady. What a title. Kim Yuna's OGM is still warm and this. My goodness, I am glad I'm not an up and coming female figure skating from South Korea. The expectation to be next Yuna Kim is too much for anyone to bear. Anything can happen in those tender years. US figure skating is full of promising young girls who peaked at 14 - 16 and didn't materialize. I am looking forward to seeing all up and comers from all over the world for next four years and given all of them a fair chance.

Wish they improve a lot under the better circumstances than ones under which Yuna trained years ago.
Another 12/13 year old girl who is friends with Haejin. So-yeon Park http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4-ak1iiBck

Wish they improve a lot under the better circumstances than ones under which Yuna trained years ago.
Another 12/13 year old girl who is friends with Haejin. So-yeon Park http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4-ak1iiBck

Thank you for the clips. Wow. Yuna was such an amazing talent even at 12. Our Korean girls don't even compare. I suppose that for elite skaters, such as Yuna, you either have it or you don't. There really isn't such a thing as "blooming later" or acquiring such talent later.

Thank you for the clips. Wow. Yuna was such an amazing talent even at 12. Our Korean girls don't even compare. I suppose that for elite skaters, such as Yuna, you either have it or you don't. There really isn't such a thing as "blooming later" or acquiring such talent later.

I disagree, Joannie Rochette, Jeremy Abbott, and Laura Lepisto are all great skaters that I would consider late bloomers. Joannie didn't find such great success until recently, and she's 24, the same goes for Jeremy. Laura is turning 22 in a few weeks and only has been competing on the senior level for a few years and has made tremendous progress. Conversely, some skaters who are great at a very young age like 12 don't live up to their potential in later years, examples being Caroline Zhang, Kimmie Meissner, and Bebe Liang.

I disagree, Joannie Rochette, Jeremy Abbott, and Laura Lepisto are all great skaters that I would consider late bloomers. Joannie didn't find such great success until recently, and she's 24, the same goes for Jeremy. Laura is turning 22 in a few weeks and only has been competing on the senior level for a few years and has made tremendous progress. Conversely, some skaters who are great at a very young age like 12 don't live up to their potential in later years, examples being Caroline Zhang, Kimmie Meissner, and Bebe Liang.

Well, I was only speaking of certain types of skaters. In terms of jumping ability, though, I think you really need to show advanced talent at a young age. Both Yuna and Mao, I believe, were skating "prodigies" in this area; hence, their ability execute difficult jumps beyond ability of their peers. Artistry, you could probably acquire at a later age.